The present invention relates to an electric connector and, more particularly, to improvement in construction of an electric connector for interface application in a connector unit made up of two mating connectors.
A typical construction of the conventional electric connector for interface application is comprised of a main body, a frame coupled to the main body and a metallic shell coupled to the frame. The main body includes an insulator and a number of electrically conductive contacts incorporated into the insulator. On each end of the frame, are provided a mounting portion and a hook. The mounting portion is adapted for mounting the frame onto a substrate such as a circuit board whereas the hook is adapted for locking a mating connector in the assembled state together with the connector.
In the case of the conventional electric connector of the above-described construction, the main body and the frame are manufactured separately. In addition, the frame is made of a metallic material with the mounting portions and the hooks in one body. According to the construction, different sizes of main bodies and frames have to be prepared for different connectors accommodating different numbers of contacts. To suffice this requirement in use, a number of different metallic molds must be reserved in production. This causes cumbersome parts control in use and innegligible increase in moulding cost. Further, use of metallic material for the frame unavoidably increases the total weight of the conductor unit. In addition, insertion of the main body into the frame in fabrication inevitably results in a large-sized construction of the connector unit.